


Snow

by a_very_berry_faerie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Dom/sub Undertones, Drinking, Eventual Smut, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Love Triangles, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader-Insert, Spoilers, Titans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:13:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25559365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_very_berry_faerie/pseuds/a_very_berry_faerie
Summary: You are from outside the Walls, making your life difficult. How will you cope?
Relationships: Jean Kirstein/Original Female Character(s), Jean Kirstein/Reader, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Reader, Levi/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	1. First Day

_There you were, standing outside the gate to the Shiganshina district, your grandfather pleading with the military police to allow you entry into the city. Tears streamed down his face as Titans drew closer until they were almost in arms reach. The Garrison dragged you into the city as you watched your grandfather get decapitated by a 10-metre Titan._

You woke up startled in a hot sweat and tumbled off your seat. It was the first day of cadet training and you had fallen asleep at the breakfast table and all-around you cadets were laughing. What a great first impression. Every time you were stressed, that nightmare would take control over your sleep, leaving you to wish for the mercy of a dreamless sleep. Being the only person who had lived outside the walls didn’t help your case with the other cadets. They already thought you thought you weren’t ready to deal with the training due to that little nightmare; you were just waiting till they found out you were the outsider. You were quite the household name, famous in your own right. Everyone knew of the De La Lune girl, who lived on the outside evading the fearsome Titans till eventually seeking refuge behind the Walls. Not a lot of people took kindly to you, they were afraid; afraid of what they couldn’t understand. How you survived outside of the Walls in a village far north of the Walls. The truth was, you were nothing to fear, not a spy or a Titan, you were just a young girl looking for shelter from the darkness in the world. A member of the Garrison took you in and train you just shortly after you gained entry into Shiganshina and had been training ever since. However, it was no ordinary Garrison member who took you in, it was Commander Pixis.

A bell rang and cadets started making their way to the courtyard. You followed suit, looking around trying to recognize anyone from your village. You spotted no one but then again, the only people you’d recognize from home would be members of the Garrison. The air outside was brisk but not cold, a small breeze fluttered through your hair. You stood beside a girl who was a bit taller than you and she smiled politely at you. A bald man stood in front of the rows of cadets, a stern look on his face. He was not going to be easy to get along with, you could tell that much for sure. He introduced himself as Keith Shandis then started walking up to cadets asking them where they were from then immediately insulting them. He sauntered up to you then stomped his right foot firmly.

“Who are you and where do you hail from cadet?” He shouted.

“Cadet Y/N De La Lune from Shiganshina, sir!” You responded immediately.

“Cadet De La Lune, where do you hail from?” He shouted, a hint of anger in his voice.

“Shiganshina, sir!” You repeated.

“I will ask you one more time cadet, where are you _originally_ from?!” He said, turning red in the face.

“Far north of Wall Maria, from the mountains, sir!” You gulped as you heard the cadets mumbling and whispering around you.

Suddenly, a strong force hit your stomach and you fell to the ground in shock. The girl beside you moved to help you up but was met with a dark sneer from Shandis. She immediately went back to her spot, giving you a sympathetic look.

“That's what you get for lying, Outsider.” Shandis sneered, “Watch your back, because there’s a lot more where that came from.”

Shandis marched off to terrorize some other cadets as you pulled yourself off the ground, dusting off your trousers. Over an hour later, Shandis had stopped terrorizing cadets and had given out the sleeping arrangements. You were one of the only cadets who got a room to themselves, unfortunately you believed that this was due to your adoptive father expressing his concern about bullying and abuse to you being an outsider. Shandis allowed you all to leave for lunch early as he said everyone would need their strength for ODM gear training. You headed for the mess hall, eyes on you from all angles. This was exactly what you had feared. The girl who had stood beside you came rushing up behind you. You walked in a comfortable silence into the mess hall and took a seat close to the table where Commander Erwin, Section Commander Hange and Captain Levi sat.

“Hi, I’m Sasha Blouse.” The girl beside you smiled, holding out her hand for you to shake.

“I’m Y/N De La Lune. Pleasure to meet you.” You said as you shook her hand.

“Looks like Chief Shandis has it out for you, huh?” Sasha sighed.

“Understatement of the year,” you laughed, “But it went better than expected.”

You spent the whole of lunch chatting to Sasha about outside the Walls or at least what you knew about them: even though it was forbidden. You told her how every day it snowed and how you could see titans at the bottom of the mountain constantly, but they never tried to climb up the treacherous mountainside. You didn’t eat, instead offering your lunch to Sasha which she graciously took. The girl ate like she had never seen food before.

***

Unknown to you, you had already caught the eyes of Hange, Erwin and Levi. Like everyone else, they had heard of you but had never seen you or knew much other than your name.

“There’s that De La Lune girl from beyond the walls, I always wondered when she’d show up in training corps.” Erwin smiled, looking towards your table.

“Poor girl basically persecuted every day by people she’s never met,” Hange replied in a low voice, “All because she comes from beyond the walls.”

“Tch, I heard she got shit off of Keith already.” Levi spoke, looking over his teacup.

“Do you think she’s here to train for the Garrison?” Hange replied, “Commander Pixis says she’s been working her ass off for years with training and even operating ODM gear.”

“I guess we’ll see.” Levi responded with his regular monotone voice.


	2. Bruised Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i decided to make a love triangle for extra angst and it just came to me in dream. sorry guys.

A few weeks into training and you were showing extreme potential, which surprised you. Some were comparing your skill to those of veterans, some were calling you lucky, some were calling you spoiled due to your ‘father’.

Other cadets were taking notice, not as much as the higher ups were. You were walking to hand-to-hand combat training with Krista, Sasha, and Armin. You all laughed and joked, probably more than you should for being awake at seven in the morning, however that stopped as soon as Shandis came into view. His intense stare was enough to make you through up your breakfast. No man had ever made you as uneasy as he did, there was something sinister about him and you couldn’t figure out exactly what it was.

Shandis had been making life at training corps difficult for you, making you train separate from most of the cadets unless he wanted you to be used as a punching bag, giving you unfair punishments and isolating you in other tasks like ODM gear training and blade training. Even trying to humiliate you in front of your fellow cadets.

You didn’t help your case most of the time, if Shandis went too far, you’d lose your cool which made your position worse. You’d swear and scream at him. maybe the cadets were right, you were a bit spoiled.

Back home you’d always been the centre of attention, 90% of which was positive. Strong, intelligent and beautiful, you had charm that could knock men off their feet. And women.

The negative attention was leaving some serious chips in your ego. Jean would always repair your broken ego with his shameless flirting.

Shandis’ ice cold stare cut into your thoughts as you shivered.

“Cadet De La Lune, come here this instant!” Shandis called, pointing in front of him.

You jogged over quickly, flashing a look of concern to your friends. The grass crunched under your feet and you almost slip on a patch of mud.

Shandis was much taller than you, so much so that you had to turn your head upwards significantly.

“Yes, sir?” You responded, “Have I done something wrong? Again?”

“I want to see how well the other cadets can take you down,” He grinned, “You will fight cadets until you can’t fight anymore.”

“Until I get tired, sir?” You asked, hesitantly.

“No, until you’re incapacitated." He spoke, his voice shaking you to the core, “Eren, you’re up first!”

Eren strolled over and looked at you, eyes glossed over with guilt. He clearly thought he was going to win, he was impressive. He had turned the anger spurred on by his mother’s death into unbridled passion to become one of the best ‘warriors’ the people of the walls had seen. That just made you want to win more, you thought of this target practise as more of a competition. You were not going to allow Shandis to bruise your pride. Eren had become a close companion of yours just like a few of the other cadets, but that wasn’t the reason you didn’t want to fight him. It was clear that neither you nor Eren would yield until one of you could no longer move but that also wasn’t the reason. You knew if Eren got hit too hard or was looking like he was going to be injured that Mikasa would jump into action. That was a scary thought. Her skill rivalled your own which was impressive because you had an extensive background in combat, and to your knowledge, she did not.

Eren mouthed a quick ‘sorry’ before holding his fists up, his form was a bit sloppy but nothing too concerning and no one else seemed to take note. You, in turn, did the same. Eren was the first to throw a punch, which you dodged successfully by ducking down, being short did have a few advantages like being more agile.

All that training from Commander Pixis came in pretty handy, you were almost an expert in all forms of combat, and, for that, you were thankful to the man you considered your second father. Eren stumbled forward and you used that small opening to your advantage. You swooped down even further and use your dominant foot to swipe his legs out from under him. In one swift move, you’d knocked Eren of off his balance and he hit the ground with a thud, you saw his head smack off the ground. Uh oh.

Suddenly – almost like clockwork – Mikasa came charging over, fear prickled under your skin. _shit._ Before you could even register her presence in front of you, a fist collided with your cheek. That was going to bruise, but that was the only hit you would allow in by her, not wanting to risk your damaged pride anymore. You retaliated harshly by kicking her in the chest to wind her then upper cutting her without hesitation. Those attacks came off a little more personal than you had originally intended. Shandis sent a few more cadets your way – Jean, Connie, Sasha, then Reiner (who was your biggest challenge) – before eventually calling the rampant attacks off as no one was quite able to put a proper dent in you after Mikasa. The worse injury you had was bruised ribs and possibly a sprained ankle, but you worked through the pain as you didn’t want to give Shandis the satisfaction of knowing someone had damaged you in a severe way.

You sighed quietly before finding Mikasa to apologise for being pretty rough. She assured you that you had nothing to apologise for because if she was in your position, she would have reacted the same way. If not, worse.

You had no idea the higher ups were watching over the training session from a nearby hill. Commander Erwin was particularly impressed with the way you carried yourself through the fights and managed to leave with barely any injuries or so he thought. Erwin strolled over with Captain Levi, who was stone-faced as ever, and Major Hange, who was beaming ear to ear.

Commander Erwin walked ahead of Levi and Hange with an inquisitive look sketched across his features.

How was it possible for a newly recruited cadet to be _that_ skilled at combat? Erwin knew that Pixis must have had something to do with, but to be so smart and tactical. There must be something that Pixis didn’t know about you, maybe about your life outside of the walls, or some private activities back home behind Wall Rose.

A few cadets felt the atmosphere change as the Commander walked onto the training area.

“Shandis, may we take Cadet De La Lune off your hands?” Erwin smiled.

He was a rather polite Commander, more so than most other commanders, even Pixis. He always showed a bit of compassion towards those in his ranks and the cadets that would train under his supervision.

“Of course, take her off my hands. Makes my life easier,” Shandis answered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hange retorted with a scowl appearing on her lips.

Major Hange had fallen in love with your intelligence when you were strategizing on how to take down your opponents. It was clear to see how driven you were, the passion that burned in your eyes with every blow to your ‘enemies’.

“Thank you, Shandis,” Erwin said ignoring Hange, “Captain Levi, go find Cadet De La Lune.”

You were too busy chatting away with Jean and Connie to notice Captain Levi heading towards you, however other cadets’ eyes were transfixed on him. Jean and Connie’s laughter died down as they noticed Captain Levi approaching them. You tilted your head inquisitively, thinking your joke wasn’t as funny as you’d anticipated.

“Cadet De La Lune, come with me.” Levi spoke, already turning to walk away from you.

“What? Why?” You answered without thinking as Levi walked away

“Commander Erwin wants to see you,” Levi stopped, you knew you’d fucked up, “And when talking to a superior, you should answer with Sir or in my case, even Captain, as a form of respect or did Pixis not teach you manners? In one sentence you have made it abundantly clear that the cadets talk is correct in calling you a spoiled princess.”

The last word sent chills down your spine. He wasn’t entirely wrong; you lived a good life with Pixis. Plenty of food, never going hungry, beautiful outfits, expensive furniture in your room, a pick of any suitor you wanted and spending your days lavished in attention. That didn’t mean you particularly liked being called spoiled, especially in front of your friends.

“Sorry, Sir.” You apologised mouth falling open. You followed Levi as he walked away, “I truly meant no disrespect, Sir."

Once you had caught up with Levi, you began to think why on earth Erwin would want to see you. _Had something happened to bad Pixis? No, Pixis is smart. He wouldn’t let anything happen to himself._ You continued to ponder on whether or not it was your attitude towards Shandis. If it was, you were going to stand your ground and insist that he deserved it.

However, the fear of being dismissed from training corps only a few months into training was threatening to take over your confident composure.

Whilst you were lost in thought, Levi was constantly looking back at you, not that you noticed. You were attractive, short and petite, many cadets had noticed this about you and Levi was no different. Without realising, he'd lead you to Erwin with his eyes fixated on you. Hange had noticed that both you and Levi had zoned out but on completely different things.

“Cadet De La Lune, it’s a pleasure to finally met you.” Erwin held out his hand.

“Commander Erwin, the pleasure is all mine. Pixis speaks highly of you, Sir.” You smiled, being dragged out of your thoughts. You shook his hand with your trembling hand. He looked you dead in the eye, he knew you were anxious, he could read you like a book.

“Nice to know that the Pixis still has a high regard for me, even though I’m Commander of the Scouts.” He smiled.

The atmosphere was definitely too upbeat from something to have happened to Pixis. So, it was your attitude towards Shandis. You gulped as the three of them stared back at you.


	3. Sleep

Following behind Commander Erwin, you let out an audible yelp as soon as you were out of Shandis’ sight and began to limp, to avoid putting weight onto your ankle. You’d almost forgot that Hange and Levi were walking behind you. You’d rather have them know about your ankle than Shandis, Shandis would never have let you live it down and would proceed to call you weak. Erwin turned around the minute he heard you yelp. There was a glint of sympathy in his eyes, his face softened when his eyes found your limp.

“Impressive, I never knew you’d hurt yourself. You held your stature expertly, Cadet.” Erwin praised, facing forward once again.

“I don’t think my pride could’ve handled everyone on the training grounds knowing I got hurt, sir.” You laughed gently, “Besides, I think it’s just a sprain.”

There was no chance you were admitting that you pretended your ankle was fine to spite Shandis. If this was about your attitude, then that wouldn’t shine to favourably on you.

“Which one got the hit it?” Hange asked enthusiastically.

It didn’t take you long to think about how you’d got your injury. The answer was clear.

“Most likely Reiner, he’s like a brick, ma’am,” You answered politely, “I mean, Major.”

It was most definitely Reiner. Jean went easy on you, that much was obvious, but not too easy. The last thing you wanted was for other cadets to be put on Shandis’ shit list. Jean prioritised tripping you up than actually taking you out. Sasha and Connie went for a similar tactic, going straight for your money maker. They never got anywhere near you to do any damage. Your ankle didn’t start to hurt until a few fights in so Mikasa and Eren were out due to process of elimination.

“Ma’am! Ha! I like her!” Hange whispered a little too loudly to Levi.

After that, you all made the journey to Erwin’s office in absolute silence. It was comfortable, until fear started to sneak up on you with every weak step.

Fear was your number one enemy in this moment, but you managed to smile despite it. Erwin wouldn’t have made polite conversation if you were getting kicked out, right. Right?

***

Once you arrived at Erwin’s office, Levi and Hange waited outside while you slowly walked past the threshold. The atmosphere changed immediately as you entered the office. Without Hange’s upbeat stroll, the tension seemed thick almost like it got stuck in your throat at points. Erwin shut the door silently behind you.

The office was awfully drab, grey walls and brown furniture, it was depressing to look at. I suppose training and survey corps can’t shell out cash on nice furniture, they were probably more concerned with the food shortage and paying for equipment.

Erwin scrapped the chair back for you to sit down and pushed it back into his desk when you were ‘comfortably’ seated. He pushed you in too far that you stomach was pushing up against the table. That was making you feel self-conscious. You tried to suck in your stomach, but it hurt to do so, probably a couple of bruised ribs and stomach.

Erwin sat down across from you, hands clasped, and a stern look on his face. That could not be good. Shuffling uncomfortably under his stare, you accidentally kicked Erwin’s leg. You muttered a quick apology that caused Erwin’s face to soften ever so slightly. His foot was tapping on the floor, causing an echo throughout the room.

Just say something already.

He said your name in a soft tone. No cadet, no last name, just your name.

“You are a talented cadet, almost professional. I suppose we can thank Pixis for that, but I need to ask why leave your more than comfortable life to come here?” Erwin continued, “And Pixis doesn’t seem like the type to force you to come here.”

“You’re right, sir. When Pixis took me in, I didn’t speak for weeks. I was traumatised because I’d witnessed my grandfather suffer the worse fate at the titans. The only way Pixis could get me to talk was by teaching me to fight. That was the deal we made. He really didn’t want me to come here, but I did. It may be selfish, but I need to do this. For myself, for revenge.” You sighed.

You were more like Eren than you had previously thought. 

Perhaps it was the pain of losing those you love the most and everything you’d ever known, but the revenge that sparked was not that different.

“Then I suppose I am right to assume you’re here to join Survey Corps?” He smiled, waiting for you to nod. Once you did, he leaned a little closer to you. “Then I’d like you to train with Major Hange and Captain Levi for both academic and combat purposes, respectively.”

Your mouth fell open but then shut again.

“It is clear that you won’t receive effective training from Shandis due to his… personal bias and you have too much potential to waste. Each morning, you will report to my office at 9am to commence training, understood!”

You nodded, saluting Commander Erwin with an excited grin.

Sleep ins.

You were getting 3-hour sleep ins!

There was a bit of softness in his eyes when he spoke, it was refreshing to see a higher up have compassion for their subordinates. Joining training corps was a harsh switch up from your home.

People fawned over you; hung on every word you spoke. You had plenty of friends, however none were real, they were all fake.

Training corps gave you some of the realist friends that you could’ve asked for. From Sasha and Krista to Jean and Connie, even Eren, Mikasa and Armin were good friends. You didn’t have to fake anything, feigning a charming – almost regal – personality back home. You were so scared to be classed as an outside that you became like a proper upper-class citizen.

Everyone around you had their own backstory and reason for joining the training corps, you felt like you fit in even with Shandis’ constant degrading behaviour towards you.

At least you wouldn’t have to deal with him for combat training.

“Cadet, go and join your friends. They’ll be finished by now.” Erwin dismissed you.

You thanked him with a mumble and walked out the door lost in thoughts of life with Pixis, accidentally ignoring Hange and Levi trying to talk to you.

Hange just let out a playful huff and walked away.

However, Captain Levi wasn’t going to let that ignorance go unnoticed.


End file.
